letters to time 2

Dear 2009,

You know there's a saying, and I don't really remember it, but its something about how a person's year will reflect what they're doing when the clock strikes midnight on the 31st of december. Well I know what I was doing when you came around, and I know how you turned out. I can't say it isn't true, but I'm not sold on it just yet. I don't mind celebrating your departure, and ringing in someone new to do your job, but I've never been fond of the New Year's celebration. The whole fuss about the new year's resolution is probably what upsets me most. I always thought if I didn't like the way something in my life was going, then I would simply change it when it occurred to me that it was wrong. I don't like setting benchmarks of time. Years and months blend, and I nearly never know what day it is. To make goals by such things always seemed preposterous, and to think that the new year is the only time that most people stop and reflect on their life is simply distressing for me to think about. People acting without regard to the consequences and their future? What sort of world do we live in? And soo, I say goodbye, with fond memories, and the promise to look back upon you kindly and remember the best, learn from the worst, and not lie too much about you. We'll always have the time we spent together, and for this, I thank you.

Yours for only a moment,

Claire

letters to time 1

Oh December,

You were filled with such joy! With champagne and family and baking all the time!! There was love lost, and love found and cuteness in all corners of my life! I'm sad you have to leave, but I know you'll come back next year and we'll catch up just like old friends should. Until then I bid you safe travels and a warm place to lay your head each evening.

Yours always Claire

15-15

Heeej! So what is up? I know sometimes I seem like I drop off the face of the Earth...

So here's a recap:

things since mid-November.

There was school and work. Work got a bit silly because a bunch of crazy lady drama happens when you get that many crazy ladies in close working capacity, and I was always going tired from studying, and class so that just added to the difficulties I had dealing with them.

Thanksgiving with the fam :)

Then there was thanksgiving which was pretty wonderful. I made a lovely pie. I spent time with family. And I got to hang out with some cool people.

The Lucia procession with the Lucia crown lit! (I'm to the left of her)

The next two weeks were crammed with writing papers and festive parties. Like the Scandinavian Christmas party, and the Campus Girl Scouts end of year party.

(CGS picture coming soon)

In other exciting news today is my half birthday and the return of Hannah to the United States for a couple weeks. So good things good things :)

YUM

HAHAHA. Did I ever show you this picture? This is a picture of what I ate at my brother's wedding. In the middle there is a delicious chocolate cupcake, and starting from the top going clockwise, vodka cranberry, coffee, rum and coke, wine, water. I ate some other other things too, but I didn't take a picture of that.

more more

The Cool Kids- Bassment Party They play this song at Forever 21. My favorite part is when they say "So if you ugly keep your hands by yo side/ But if you not then put 'em in the sky" The version we play at F21 is censored of course, but you get the idea

Plain White T's- Figure it Out

Christina Aguilera- Still Dirty Because Christina is clearly my role model

The Academy is...- Down and Out

ck

in addition to all that Tonight I wrote a paper. YEAH

holiday spirits!!

not my video ^

not my story v

I grew up in a college town, and one Halloween our doorbell rang and we opened the door expecting to see trickortreater—but what was in front of our open door—was another door! Like, a full-on wooden door, that had a sign that said “Please knock.” So we did, and the door swung open to reveal a bunch of college dudes dressed as really old grandmothers, curlers in their hair, etc, who proceeded to coo over our “costumes” and tell us we were “such cute trick or treaters!” One even pinched my cheek. Then THEY gave US candy, closed their door, picked it up and walked to the next house.

30.11.9

My favorite things:

Raspberries- for being delicious and healthy

Limes- the only fruit I keep stocked fresh in my apartment

Cajun seasoning- because it always kicks my butt and I love it

Love Claire

Turkey!

I am so ready for Thanksgiving. All that food belongs in my belly.

In other news I love secrets, and therefore have nothing I want to tell you!

But also I think this is important

Kisses!

More Music

Part III

Folk Uke- Shit makes the flowers grow

Frank Sinatra- Fly me to the Moon

The Cat Empire- Days Like These

The Cool Kids- 88

R. Kelly- Ignition Remix

KEI$HA- Tik Tok

Boys like Girls- Love Drunk

music

These are a bunch of songs good for the listening.

Links lead to youtube videos :)

Part I

Single File -Girlfriends

The Capital Beat- Feel the Reggae

Feist- My Moon My Man

Kid British- Sunny Days

Kid Cudi- Day N Night

Regina Spektor- Folding Chair

Orup- Magaluf (caution live)

Snook- Mr. Cool

Stampa med Leroy (how to dance)

Lady Gaga- Bad Romance

Part II

Owl City- Fireflies

Snow Patrol- Chocolate

Kelly Clarkson- I Want You

David Guetta ft Akon- Sexy Chick

BeNUTS- Slam (listen to this if you can find it)

Bernadette Seacrest- When the Sun Comes

Sahara Hotnights- Who do you dance for?

The Littlest Man Band- Stayed Away Too Long

3OH!3- Don't Trust Me (b/c I'm a terrible person)

the future is waiting!

Hello!

So, news of the future!! I applied for this leadership conference, and I got wait-listed! but that is okay, because I was always a bit ambivalent about going anyway. Now I can spend that week working or sleeping and it will probably be just as useful. Also holidays are coming super fast and this semester is almost over! I can hardly believe it. I am hopefully going to make another homemade pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving most of all. It is 100% my favorite holiday. Food and family without the awkward feeling that there need to be presents! And also I love Turkey. And mashed potatoes. And stuffing. And pumpkin pie. And yeah. How is school going for you? Miss you tons!

puss och kram!

Claire

Canadian in America

Megan and Ian playing in the leaves in Iowa

Ian acting super Canadian and supporting PEACE

Sunset on the drive back from Iowa

Ian as American as apple pie

Posing with the concert tickets.

Ian, Annelie and I at the Jay-Z concert

Oh man! Ian came to visit. We drove to Iowa to hang out with Megan! It was good times. Then we came back to Champaign and did alot of things.

Some highlights:

Dinner with my dad, brother and sister-in-law!

Drinks with friends! (Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday)

Home-made apple pie

International Illini Pot-luck

Jay-Z, N.E.R.D concert (OH MAN SO GOOD)

Then Megan came to Champaign and we went out for fun times!

Overall good week :)

instructions

Today I was going through all the documents on my computer and erasing the ones I don't need anymore (class schedules from freshman year, guide lines for essays due years ago, work regulations from places I don't work anymore) and I found one entitled "instructions" I opened it to see what it would instruct me to do, and I found this:

Could you see me tomorrow? After my final, we can go inside my apartment, draw the shades, and drink cocoa. We can talk about the truth. I want to hear something real. Something that isn't a lie. It's hard to be realistic. To not be in denial if no one ever says the truth out loud.

I love my life. And cocoa :)

Realignment

you ;)

So yesterday was really nice. It was also very awful. Terrible day. I tried to go to class, but I was 15 minutes late, because I wanted to sit calmly and drink some coffee. Then when I got there, the classroom was empty and incredibly hot. So I guess they moved? but didn't leave a note. There was no email cancelling class and there was a paper due that day, so I imagine if it had been cancelled she would have said something? So I went and sat outside and wrote a poem. I haven't written a poem in nearly 3 years. Its a lot different than my older ones, but maybe thats not bad. Then I did a whole bunch of laundry, and I despise doing laundry with all my despising ability. But now I have clean clothes so thats good. Then I went to Murphy's and it was mostly an amazing reminder of how much I can't stand that sort of atmosphere. I never have fun, and I don't know why I keep thinking that'll change. So basically yesterday was this whole big great reminder of all the things I love by being all the things I don't love. So now I remember and Tomorrow Ian will be in Illinois! and we are going to see Megan!!

This one.

Dear You!

Remember when we used to run through the words so early in the morning and I thought there were dinosaurs hiding out in the bushes (because Mary said there were) waiting for us? These days are a bit like those in a way. I stay up so late that the I always see the twilight before the sun comes up. Sometimes I go to the park nearby, and walk around all bundled up in the cold. Its pretty safe with all the drunks at home in bed by then and all the homeless still asleep. Sometimes I think I should run more, but I do other things now. I'm really enjoying a certain drive towards creative writing these past few days. I try to apply it to all the boring things I have to write, like new resumes for all my different applications, and book reviews about Norwegian immigration. Maybe its strange the way I love the night. Everyone else is asleep and it feels like I finally have some privacy in such a crowded busy world. I love grocery shopping, and doing laundry when no one is there, when the world is fast in slumber. I love baking and cleaning and when the sun comes back around it looks suddenly new and I'm always filled with such leaping joy at the transformation brought about by the light. These last few days have also been really sunny, making my daytime sleep super joyful, because the sun always makes me that way. I find it easy to sleep in the sunshine. Ian is coming to visit this upcoming Saturday and I wonder a bit about how I'll sleep when he is here, perhaps I won't do so well, but life moves on, and everything passes. I've so much to do before he arrives, with homework and cleaning, I'm not sure I'll sleep at all these next few days even. Anyway I miss you tons, and I don't think we speak nearly enough.

Love Claire

BZZZ

I was a bumble bee for halloween. It got a bit out of control! And the day after Halloween I went to my Grandparents house and they gave me all their left-over candy from trick-or-treat times. So basically I ate a ton of food. What were you for Halloween? I can imagine you looked very good.

kisses kisses

Claire

hey essay

I'm writing drunken essays. (2/3) They will be honest and beautiful!!. I will spell check them before I hand them in tomorrow. I'd rather I were myself and not get in, than lie and have to hold up the charade!

ps does anyone know how that word is spelled? the one from the south park episode where they're like "hey write an essay for me" and then all the Mexican's write their essays. But its Spanish. and its not spelled like that. Help me out, DANG!

Leadership

Hello there!

Oh my! I had an interesting weekend. So on Thursday I went and had dinner with my brother, sister-in-law (Jen) and my father! It was good times with nice chats and I love those people! Then I went to see a scary movie?? In the theater?? with some crazy people!! That was also good times, but unfortunately not as scary as I had hoped it would be. then there was socializing with some funky new kids at "the place to be" on a thursday night.

Friday I woke up early and went to a leadership conference. It was so intensely disappointing!! And it was an overnight conference with a contract where the participants are not allowed to leave the hotel property during the conference. We played BS and mafia Friday night and I am the best liar, and incredibly strategic according to several unsuspecting new friends. I'm clearly more of a leader than they had imagined, and I'm frankly a bit insulted they had such low standards and high arrogance of themselves, and wasted so much of my time. I finally escaped Saturday night.

Sunday I worked a bunch in the morning and then went straight to my brother's place. We went to Bloomington and had lunch with Jen's brother (Garrett) and his girlfriend (Morgan) at the Olive Garden. What a place!! I hadn't been there in over a year. Then we went to Garrett's apartment so him and Morgan could look at the wedding pictures the professional photographer had taken. They were delivered in a huge book with 9 or 12 (I can't remember which) on a page. There are about 890 of them. Then we left and went to an oyster festival! I got to chit chat with people I met when I was 10 and mostly didn't recognize me. They're all great people though, so it was cool. This festival is put on every year by the owner of this ski and dive shop (like scuba diving). We know the owners because they run a ski and dive club and my parents have been on several trips with them. I only went on one, and then my family sort of fell apart (but that's a different story). So I decided I might take scuba lessons despite the fact I'm terrified of water. I think I could totally succeed. We ran into an old family friend and her husband, and went over to her house to visit her dog and show her the wedding photos too (she was at the wedding). On our way back into town Tony Jen and I stopped at Chipotle for burritos. DELISH.

This morning I discovered that I had left half a carton of (lactose free) ice cream on the counter Friday morning before I left for the conference. Yes I ate ice cream for breakfast, and now I sort of think it may have been a mistake because it got all melty and slimy on my counter while I was gone. Then I went to the mall in search of I don't know what and ended up stumbling across a clearance bin with a plaid flask in it. So now I own that. I also bought a new barbell for my latest piercing and I changed it when I got home, but I'm not sure I like it. Its black with a CZ stud in one of the balls. end story

kisses kisses!

Claire

Lock it Up and throw away the Key

I bought a Locket! It is a large one. Big enough to fit a marshmellow into (to give you an idea of the size). I want to put something suspicious in it. Any suggestions?

Kisses!!

wooo

Dear you :)

Isn't it weird to think about where we've been? How strange it is to realize we lived in Sweden for nearly a year. WHAT THE FUCK WAS I DOING?? What a strange decision I feel like that was for me. You always seemed to have good reason/intention. Ian and I were reminiscing and I was thinking how nice it would be to be near one of my Uppsala friends. I have no roommates here and no one to cook with! Anyway, I miss you bunches and I'll check in again in a bit.

kramar!

Claire

"Expect nothing, live frugally on surprise."

So I have been feeling ultra secretive lately. So much more than usual! Which is an abnormally high level anyway (or so I hear). I don't really know who reads this. So I'm not going to go about shouting all the things I have to say to just anyone who will stumble across this. My life is going really well, and so many good things have happened this past week.

"When you discover your mission, you will feel its demand. It will fill you with enthusiasm and a burning desire to get to work on it."

So I have decided that for halloween I would like to be a bumblebee, but I don't want to be the normal sexy bumblebee I want to be a largely round awkwardly bumping into everything bumblebee with the inability to realize it isn't a sexy bumblebee. I want to flirt with everyone.

"Aerodynamically the bumblebee shouldn't be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn't know that so it goes on flying anyway."

In other news I'm really into several songs right now that I feel like give a really good impression of where my life's at. So I encourage you to check them out!

Owl City- Fireflies (song)
Adrienne Bailon- Big Spender (song)

Other things I'm really into right now:
Ghost Hunters- Season 5 (TV series)
White tattoos

New Week

I cannot believe it has been a week since my last post! What in the world have I been doing?? I will tell you!!

Well... I will tell you a little bit. I will tell you that right now, I love pumpkin pancakes, and you. I love you. In addition to that right now I'm really jiving on the musical stylings of Metric, Damien Rice and Frank Sinatra. Also I've been watching a whole bunch of the TV series Bones. Season 5 is kind of super sweet, and making me feel romantic and silly! Right now the weather outside is delicious! Its just above freezing, and its slightly windy. It makes me feel sad and nostalgic, and it overwhelms my heart with joy. Its like a big gulp of cold sweet water. It reminds me of Chirstmas time, when I get that feeling that there is so much love in the world, and even though sometimes I'm all alone in the cold in the middle of the night in the empty parking lot of a 24 hour grocery store, there is so much possibility in the world, I can't help but feel amazing. I felt like that tonight. Thats what this weather always does to me.

There is of course a lot more going on in my life. I went on a date this weekend and it was my Uni's homecoming! I'm possibly planning a trip to Thailand, and my possible future in countries not named anything America. In addition to that I'm still employed and somehow still in school. So whoopie! I will give you more details on these things later though for now I would like to sleep.

xoxo Claire

wooo

Okay! So here is the deal: I miss all of you tons. Where are you these days?? Why are you not with me? So I will give you a list of my favorite things, and tell you what I did this weekend. Will you do the same for me?

Favorites this week:
Snow Patrol- Chocolate (song)
La Roux- Colourless Colour (song)
Once (movie)
Buttercup Festival (web comic)
YOU!

So I took some time away this weekend, and I looked into my future. I decided what I want to do and I made an action plan! This (not) surprisingly did not yield solid results, but I feel much better with the plethora of ideas now floating around my head. I'm looking for an internship abroad this spring, and I'm applying to a master's program in Lund Sweden for next fall. And then I worked a whole bunch! WooHoo!

xoxo Claire

Shake that

This really makes me think of you.

How inappropriate!!

I know this is terrible, but its so terrible that I almost die laughing everytime I watch it!

YOU THERE!

I WANT YOU!
I feel SO GOOD, like the whole world is magical! I love this season. The weather here is sooo amazing. It's like spinning under a clear night sky in a slightly too baggy sweatshirt. Its comfortable and beautiful and overwhelming. It's rainy and about 50 F (~10 C) Its so windy I feel like I'm gonna get blown away, and maybe I wouldn't mind if I did. I've been thinking alot about my future. And I've decided I want it! I'm excited for it, and it feels right this time! I'm searching for internships all over the world starting either in January or May. Do you know of one? Sometimes I think about why I'm not in a relationship. Maybe its because I don't want to have something I can lose so easily. It was painful to lose the last one I had, so I want to make the right decision this time!
kisses kisses
LOVE Claire

Apple picking

Hey hey!
Oh my goodness I totally lied! How not surprising is that!?? Anyway, so I just forgot that I went apple picking at my favorite orchard with Campus Girl Scouts! I climbed apple trees and ate apple donuts, and got pumpkins (they also have a pumpkin patch) and made a pumpkin pie from scratch! Oh how I love pumpkin pie! I only remembered this after writing that last post and thinking "hmm... aren't there some really awesome pictures of me out there somewhere? I wonder where those are... OH RIGHT they're on my camera" hahaha

Life: general

Hey there!
I'm going to tell you really boring things, because I have no exciting things to say, but I still want you to know that I care.

So I got sick. It was totally lame! And since the swine flu is going around like crazy here my dad insisted that if I got sick I should go to the doctor (he heard a story about this guy who died from having swine flu and his only sympton was a headache and three days later he just up and died!). So I got sick, and I was pretty sure it wasn't flu-ish at all, but he was quite insistent, so I went, and the doctor (as usual!) had no idea what's wrong with me, gave me vague instructions to take some ibuprofen and wait until it goes away. (I have a long history with this guy having no idea what's wrong with me and telling me Ibuprofen and time will cure all that's ailing me) That's the most dramatic thing to happen in the past week. Not that exciting huh?

My brother and his WIFE are back from their honeymoon and it seems like they had a good time and are enjoying being married. They're so good together.

In other news my hair is getting to an awkward length, where if I let it go any longer I'm gonna have a mullet, and the difference in length brought about by the mohawk is even making the top look spastic (not to mention the curls are really getting out of control). So I'll be getting a haircut soon hopefully. I'm trying to grow it out, but apparently its a long process.

I'm trying super hard to save up money from my job so I can travel (December? May?) but its hard I always end up spending it on food. Food seems like a silly thing. I don't really get hungry, but I know I should eat, so I buy lots of it, and I cook, and I spend quite a bit of time eating. Its so tedious! If something is particularly delicious I enjoy it, but mostly I can't tell. You can probably imagine how frustrating this is. If I gained any weight in Sweden its all gone now :( and I'm back to being super thin. Oh how I miss Swedish potatoes.

I've also been rock climbing! and making new friends! I miss all my Uppsala friends though. What fun we had! Americans are so different. Such a challenge. Anyway, I have to go sleep for the benefit of my health. Miss you tons! Puss och kram.
Love Claire

Wedding!!

My brother got married! I was there! It was amazing and beautiful. Who would've thought my brother would get the perfect wedding? I'm in this photo too! Can you find me?

Lunch of Champions: Beer and Cheese

Dear Friends,
I've been thinking about life. And the more I think about life the more mine gets turned upside down. I make the craziest decisions, but I'm so happy. I'm unconventional in my approach and ambivalent to the norms of good and bad. I therefore see my equally unconventional results in ways my peers describe as "unexpected." I like the way things are going, and I feel great about my future. I feel great knowing you've been an important part of my past and you'll still be there in my future. Miss you tons.
xoxo Claire

Sleep is Clearly over-rated

Hey you!
So Wednesday I woke up around 10:30 (I had such fitful sleep!) And did homework all day and went to class, followed immediately by a meeting with my advisor, and then I had to rush to work because the meeting went long. I got home about 11 pm and then spent until 9 am the next morning doing homework, then I went to class until 3 pm and I was so tired without a night's sleep. I however didn't go to sleep. I went rock climbing instead. I eventually got to sleep around 12:30 am, making it about 38 hours awake time. 7 hours of sleep and then I had to be back at work! What an exhausting life this is. And I have such a busy day tomorrow too! This week I have to do even more homework because next weekend my brother is getting married!!!!!! FINALLY!!! It's all so very exciting. Also I suspect there are pumpkin pancakes in my future. Which I love. So yay!
kisses kisses
Claire

texts from last night

I was reading this website... texts from last night. Have you heard of it? And I read this one and it reminded me of you...

(512): just checked my call log and realized that we talked for 3 mns. what did i say for that long?
(1-512): pretty standard. you have fun last night?
(512): apparently....what exactly does 'pretty standard' mean?
(1-512): typical hot then cold, followed by a death threat.

HAHAHAHA
misses!

Pictures

So I got the cutest shower curtain and curtain hooks! Flowers and Pine Cones!!!!

This is a picture of me at the bachelorette party. I guess this is a variation on the pin the tail on the donkey game. We didn't actually play :(

I really wished I had a cowboy hat in this photo...

Elvis needs boats!

Oh my goodness. So much to tell!!! I started classes and while I like what I'm studying it's a bit lame that I have to read so much. I hate reading. I even have a Swedish novel I'm supposed to read. And its funny and great for my vocab, but such a hassle. Also my new sister-in-law had her bachelorette party in Chicago last weekend. It was an extensive party, and lots of fun with fancy lunch and purse making and a night out on the town. It was also a little bit challenging because it was a bunch of different types of girls all thrown together with alcohol. So there was crying, and drama, but it all turned out okay in the end. Drunk people are drunk! Speaking of getting drunk... I wasn't having the best day last Thursday so I skipped all my classes and then met up with the Swedes and their international buddies for a night of drinking beer. This was a bad idea. Since I stopped drinking I have a very low tolerance now, and it got a bit excessive. I failed to set my alarm for work the next morning, and somehow magically woke up in time to get there, only to realize that I had to leave or I would vomit all over the customers. So bad times. I spent the rest of the day sleeping it off. Boo. Now I have to go back to work and pretend I'm a responsible person, for real. On another note I started rock climbing and I think I'll make this and running more prominent in my life. I'm not very good at rock climbing just yet, because it requires a lot of upper body strength that I just don't have. Also my hands aren't that strong, so gripping the tiny rocks and lifting myself up with them is not so easy. Practice will improve these things. I'm going to a belay clinic on Monday that will encourage me to go climb more often. Wooooo!
kisses kisses!

School

Hej hej
Oh my goodness. I need to say so many things. but first I had the weirdest day. Will you tell me a joke?

Whoo Employment!

HEY THERE!
I'M WRITING IN CAPITAL LETTERS BECAUSE I AM SOOOOO EXCITED!!! Okay. Done with that. I got a job! I am totally an employed individual now! I work as a cashier girl at forever 21. Perhaps you know it? It is super trendy, or so I hear. I like it because I can still wear whatever I want basically when I'm owrking. The only down side of course is no burritos, but it does pay so now I have money to buy them in my spare time!! I move into my new apartment tomorrow, and I am super excited and sort of nervous. I will finally have internet at home again! YES!! and my own kitchen (which = super fun cooking times). But I also start school here pretty soon, so that is sort of lame. I'm a little nervous about living alone, but maybe it won't be too scary? My besti is home from Egypt for a while and so that ensures super fun times until late september. I am thinking I am going to save up some money from my job and buy myself a plane ticket next may. Perhaps a road trip along the coast of France? down to Portugal? The possibilities are endless!!! Any ideas, opinions, etc? I also started watching True Blood with my friends. Have you seen it? They apparently speak Swedish in some episodes, because one of the vampires is a really old Swede. Kind of neat. There is too much violence in it for me to really like it though. It makes me sooo anxious! Tonight I am eating food with the fam. My brother, his fiance, and my dad. Their wedding is getting super close and I am excited for that too. I still haven't decide if Im taking anyone, but I'll probably just end up going stag, all classy style like I do. And the bachelorette party! that is super soon too. Oh what fun it promises to be. Maybe I'll even drink with the girls! who knows! I'm still really enjoying being sober all the time. My favorite pub serves orange soda on tap (free refills!!- but don't get confused I don't pay for things anyway). So those are probably all the things you wanted to know??
puss och kram
Claire

Circus time!

Dear Friend,

I'm sitting at my mother's apartment eating peaches and Ice cream thinking about how much you would have LOVED the circus today. It was my first time at the circus, and it was everything I imagined it could be. There were trapeze people, elephants, tiny circus seats, and it was absolutely brilliant!! I decided not to ride the elephant realizing that I can find a better elephant riding experience in the future. So I have a new life goal: to ride an elephant in an amazing way. I'm excited for it, and I think I'll head over to Thailand for the real thing.

This past week I've made two pumpkin pies, and I remember you saying you've never had one. They are sooo magically delicious (even out of season). I still think you should try one, but I have no idea whether or not you would actually like it. One of my uncles is in town this week, and there was a family get together yesterday. It made me super happy because I really love family get togethers, and hanging out with my grandparents. It reminded me of how much I love American food and why I love it so much. Of the four things I ate for dinner there, three of them had bacon in them, and the other was a pork sandwich :) The one down side is something called "Cool Whip" which is basically a crappy synthetic replacement for whipped cream. I can't stand it, and it's the only thing my family uses to top deserts or ice cakes with. So I just ate more bacon-y food.

Anyway, it's super late here and I am tired! Talk to you soon.
kisses kisses
Claire

Kompis!!!

Kanna Kompis,
Thanks for letting me know about the glitch in the commenting!! Hopefully it is fixed now and you may go about guessing who the letters are for! The other day I sent the most amazing text message and I shall include the cnotents below.

"Punk ass mother Fucker cunt balls sac of shit. Firehaus or all you balls deep in lady?"

Firehaus is the bar I was at and that was my sincere and friendly way of inviting him to join me. It reminded me of all the classic SMS we sent each other back in the day. Hope you're doing well. Talk to you soon.
xoxo
Claire

Dear You! (?)

Dear Friend,
How are you? I hope you are doing well. I am here in America trying to make the most out of life. America is quite different from Sweden and I've made several changes in my life to account for it. I stopped drinking alcohol and replaced it with coffee. I do still go out with friends and enjoy getting to know new people. Not surprisingly I am outgoing even when I'm sober. Not drinking has led to some amusing and interesting situations (all of which I remember). I'm also taking a break from what I would consider the "romantic" side of my social interactions. Perhaps when I go back to dating I'll try having a steady monogamous relationship again. These days I fill my spare time with learning Russian, baking delicious things when possible, and making jewelry. My future looks uncertain and I'm unsure of when I'll be able to return to Europe, but I hope when I do, we will be able to visit. Miss you heaps.
Puss och kram Claire

First Letter!

Dear Friend,
How are you?!!?!! I hope you're doing well and getting along pleasantly with your job. Since I've been back in America I've been eating tons of food from Dos Reales and Outback Steakhouse. I'm not sure if I've told you yet about how my mother won an apartment rent free for a year, and gave it to me. It's a pretty good sized one bedroom with a bathtub and at a pretty good location (only a few blocks from my old apartment). The only down side is that it is already furnished and I have no idea what to do with the rest of my stuff. I don't move in until August 18th, so for now I'm just hanging around, eating food and looking for a job. Dan said he'd help me be motivated and fill out some applications at bars around campus on Wednesday, so that's should help. In other Dan news his dad gave him a bike the last time he came to visit and I'm super excited about it. My plan is to make him bicycle around with me, but we'll see how well that works. He's recently been hanging out with a lifeguard from the waterpark, and she tells me it isn't that hard to get a job as a life guard and I'm considering it for next summer if I'm in the area and can get over being terrified of water. I have the apartment until August 2010, so unless I find a better paying job somewhere else (a job for a college graduate???) it really couldn't hurt. I might not even be a graduate by then, but we'll see. Hopefully I will see you soon and in the mean time, stay safe and keep healthy!
kisses kisses
-Claire

Hello!

Dear Friend,
I hope this letter reaches you in good health and high spirits. I am writing to let you know that I've started a blog, and in this blog I will tell of my adventures, luck and misfortunes! Each entry in this blog will be written in the form of a letter, and each letter will be written specifically for a friend of mine and posted here shortly after it is written. I am not going to post who the letter is written for but you are more than welcome to guess in the comments section if you would like. This will hopefully be a pleasant and fun way for me to let everyone know what I am doing with my life in a more personal way than a usual blog. The internet connection in my life right now is quite spotty so the first of the updates may not come for several days and it may be several letters at once. I hope this does not discourage any one from reading them, and I hope you all enjoy your time here.

kisses kisses
love Claire